Drawing
by Kayo-San
Summary: Post-release. Shi Joon's out of prison. He hasn't any more visions and Shi Hyun hasn't had any future predicting sketches in years. Or, have they? It's been five years. They've been missed. They have changed. But some things don't change. For one, they still have each other and they still need each other. [How a sequel could go. Same verse as Again & Tussle.]
1. Chapter 1

Hi. I want a season two. Here's a bit. Another bit coming in like an hour.

Dedicated to the two reviews I got on 'Again' and 'Tussle':

To Dear anon and Guest (I'm not sure if you two are the same reader?),

Here you go, I'm also very glad to see I'm not the only person to have watched Sketch, it was so good – head over to Soompi, there's a small community over there to gush over the story.

More author notes below :))

* * *

It would have been nicer if her brother was released on a warmer day, they shifted the date, in fact, to a week longer of all things.

Then she wouldn't have to hold a large jacket and a sweater and a thermos flask and a bowl of beancurd all at the same time.

Not to mention, he's taking too long and the beancurd is going to be cold and they'll get home late and then Lieutenant Oh – _oh wait no,_ Inspector Oh will begin to worry again if she doesn't message in time.

She spaces out.

The metal gate swung open in the background, the quiet keen of metal on metal.

Shi Joon makes his way silently out, not necessarily on purpose, but before Shi Hyun can speak, "Op-" he presses a finger to her lips.

"Where's my tofu, Shi Hyun-ah?"

She holds onto the little cloth carrier case awkwardly, balancing a container on her pinky, and Shi Joon takes it from her before she hides it.

"Op-" she tries again but he tells her, "Shh, let me turn over a new leaf first."

He slurps down the beancurd dessert like it's a shot of soju and wipes his face with the sanitary wipes Shi Hyun packed in for him.

"Ah… it's cold."

Shi Hyun pouts.

"Like I was going to say before Oppa cut me off, it's cold and we should have gone home to reheat it. But you! Took so long to come out my ears are going to freeze off," she starts off snarky and ends with a huffy look.

Shi Joon rubs his hands together, before covering her ears with them.

"What nonsense, your ears are warm," there's no bite to his reply, something tender in his eyes that hides something grieving and afraid, Shi Hyun's barely there unhappiness just disappears.

* * *

[ "Oppa!" she calls out, the moment she sees him and he smiles, so wide.

"Shi Hyun-ah…"

It's a warm day, the sun is out and she tells him, "Your beancurd isn't cold anymore, wait till we get home to chill it. Until then don't do anything bad, got it?"

 _("Oppa arachi?")_

Shi Joon nods obediently, following her to the car and holding the beancurd, warm like the sun, and Shi Hyun smiles – bright, like that sun.

 _("Ye, ye, Shi Hyun-ah, Oppa araso.")_ ]

* * *

"Let me drive, Shi Hyun-ah."

Shi Hyun looks at her brother curiously, and he goes, "It's my car after all, even if you've been using it for five years," and she hands him the car keys.

"As long as you don't crash it?"

The corners of his mouth lift upwards in a secret, maybe lightly ironic lilt.

"Of course not."

* * *

Shi Hyun is a total side-seat driver. They can't help it that Shi Joon forgot how to use a steering wheel and took a wrong turn onto the wrong highway.

He's so apologetic that Shi Hyun can't fault him, only pull out her phone to find their location by GPS to see how to get back home.

The funny thing is that after that, Shi Joon's gear shift is flawless, smooth as if he hadn't not driven for years.

Of course, things like that, Shi Hyun doesn't notice.

She notes the jerkiness when he brakes, and when he forgets to turn on their headlights.

"Ah? One of our headlights is tinted green."

Shi Joon frowns at Shi Hyun's observation, as if deep in thought and then remarks in all honesty, "Green is not a bad colour. But noticeable, and weird. As if someone is trying to identify us."

Shi Hyun laughs it off – the years have been kind to their team without her sketches, her edge of paranoia and reading into symbols significantly dulled.

"Oppa, you're being too paranoid, I'm sure it was just one of the kids at the school we visited for showcase yesterday."

Shi Joon doesn't speed, doesn't overtake and drives on the inner lanes.

They reach home safely, a whole three hours later thanks to the detour and the delay at the prison.

Later, but still safe. And it was just a piece of flappy craft plastic that Shi Hyun pulls off the headlight easily.

* * *

[ Shi Joon doesn't offer to drive, not sure if he can tell left from right after not touching a wheel for so long – and, Shi Hyun does.

The route she took to the prison, she takes the same route back, the same expressway, the same tunnel, the same roads, same everything, just on the opposite side of the road.

It's predictable, foreseeable.

She reached the prison in the late evening, just before the sun dipped down and did not turn on her headlights.

But then they clicked on and one was green and Shi Hyun just – laughed.

"One of the kids at the school yesterday must have thought it was funny!"

Shi Joon doesn't let it weigh on his mind.

They're on an expressway – a six-lane expressway, three in each direction and they were on the second to leftmost lane, always comfortable with overtaking.

Then a trailer crashed into them.

It's a hit and run – the trailer had no headlights on, purposeful.

Shi Joon regains consciousness first, calling out to her, "Shi Hyun-ah, Shi Hyun-ah," fumbling, glass cut hands searching for the seat belt release, displacing shattered glass all over his lap.

He's fresh out of prison, without a functional phone and Shi Hyun is out.

Her phone's in her pocket – he stretches out, over her to gently lift it out, picking and tossing larger pieces of glass out the window as he goes.

Her emergency call function, thankfully calibrated goes to the police's emergency service.

He breathes – the smell of charred wires and overheated parts, his limbs protesting as he pushes open her driver side door that caved in with the roof.

Shi Joon's hands, pressing into her clothes and feeling the little grains of glass stick to his palm, at least, _not her,_ he thinks.

Then he removes her seat belt.

Her leg is trapped by the caved-in dashboard, he's not sure if it's crushed, but judging by the wound on her head, Shi Joon doubts that the leg is more dangerous.

He tugs off his shirt and cuts it with broken glass, brushing glass bits out of Shi Hyun's hair then biding strips around her temple the way he imagines paramedics would.

It's not bleeding heavily, but he makes him feel better knowing that some measure to save his sister has been taken.

The ambulance arrives. ]

* * *

Did I start a new series? Yes, yes I did.

Can you blame me? I love these two so much, so much. I would ship them together but I'm not sure which would be sweeter, their current sibling dynamic alone, or if turning them into adoptive siblings thrown together by fate just so I have a love-line I can pursue would be better.

This author isn't the best at romance, honestly, but, I'm going to tug at my own heartstrings and mend them. Yeah okay, I can't pull of the adoption schtick, but just imagine if they dropped the bombshell at the end that they're not blood-related and that would bring another dimension to the depth of their relationship.

Seriously. Get yourselves partners that look at each other like Shi Joon and Shi Hyun do.

It's so full of love and concern that it makes me feel so happy.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oppa, now that you're out, what are you going to do?"

Shi Joon shrugs, "I'm not sure. I guess I'll ask the Prosecutor's Office if they would take me back? It's one of the only things I know."

"If not?"

He laughs, "Why, are you offering me a job, Superintendent Yoo?"

She starts with a, "No, it's an offer to let you –" she pauses before asking, "Oppa, how did you know? I was going to surprise you with my double promotion."

Shi Joon points at her lanyard on the mantle before Shi Hyun 'o's in understanding.

"Like I said, Oppa, it's an offer to let you mooch around the house. Write a book, and take time off to get back up to date with the world first or something like that. Though, I'm sure we could do with a police officer like you."

Shi Joon mulls it over, "Take me as your assistant then?"

In all honesty, Shi Hyun thinks her Oppa's brother-complex is making a return, but she lets him tag along. She protects him too

Teaches, guides, corrects.

* * *

[ "Prosecutor Yoo, this definitely wasn't the work of a kindergarten child. The headlight was removed and the plastic sheet attached using hot glue. I very much doubt that this was a prank."

And they were targeted.

Shi Joon knows it.

Shi Hyun is in a coma and he is… angry.

He hasn't gone home to eat tofu yet.

At least this once.

Once more.

He walks into his sister's police station to report to her overseeing officer to explain her absence – the overseeing officer is extremely understanding and arranges for a guard for her room.

For once in his life, he's open about it, "I have many enemies, officer-nim. I was imprisoned for murder. They nearly got my sister. I'm currently investigating, please help me."

The officer is so sympathetic, protective of his own like Chief Moon was and Shi Joon's heart… aches a little.

"Of course, they targeted one of our own. Of course we will investigate. I'll contact you immediately when I have news."

He has a vision in broad daylight, money passing from a hand into the Chief in front of him and his heart… shutters.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

He turns over the gun in his hands.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

He presses a kiss to Shi Hyun's forehead.

"Oppa will protect you, Shi Hyun-ah. Even if it's not the way you would approve of."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

He had his own investigation in the same time that the police office was turning on its head trying to account for a missing gun in time for a spot-check.

Shi Joon is quick.

He kills that man and returns the gun with a gloved hand, stuffing it under a cupboard and blowing dust over it.

The spot check goes fine.

Nothing else happens.

Shi Joon doesn't go back to ask for news. The Chief never contacts him back.

A mastermind behind the operation, a new branch of the Elders that had an actual head – not like the hydra before.

A new kind of system, a new group trying to dominate their country. He cut off the head.

Later on, he reads in the news that the officer whose gun he borrowed, died.

The header reads, "Cop dead in chase after murderer. Despite firing in self-defense, the police officer was tragically stabbed to death after running out of bullets."

And yet. No one counted the number of bullets, or didn't care, or didn't think it was relevant.

Shi Joon knows.

That is the price paid.

Shi Hyun wakes up.

He's happy. It's enough. He is satisfied.

Rather than for the world and the world alone, he worked once, for the sake of his own world.

His own.

He held her in his arms and she asked, "What's wrong, Oppa?"

He presses his lips to her hair and murmurs.

"Nothing. I'm just glad you woke up." ]

* * *

Shi Joon doesn't have visions anymore. He's not sure if that's a blessing or a curse, but instead, he has nightmares.

Perhaps it is the universe trying to repay him, allowing him to foresee the future surrounding him and Shi Hyun, having saved the world once.

Shi Hyun shakes him awake, "Oppa, wake up, it's just a dream."

He shoots up and out of the bed, her name on his lips and his hair matted with sweat, breathing only calming when he realises that she's – still there.

"Oh, Shi Hyun-ah…"

Another bad dream, another bad… future?

Shi Joon wants to keep his promise.

 _("Oppa, hajima, jebal," –_ she hiccups and his breath caught. _Stop, please_

Like an idiot, he nearly lowered his gun.

 _"Shi Hyun-ah, mianeh."_ He shot first.

 _I'm sorry.)_

"Shi Hyun-ah, will you bring me around tomorrow? Like take the day off and just bring me around so I can regain my bearings at least around home?"

She looks at him like she _knows and_ he asks, "Have you been drawing, recently?"

She shakes her head, "I haven't had any sketches in years. But I've been drawing casually though. Would you like to see?"

Shi Hyun stays home the entire day.

They don't even go out, Shi Joon spends the day lazing about and drawing with his younger sister.

She's still using trusty black ballpoint pens.

Shi Joon draws the lighter-hearted scenes of his dreams – all the little details that would give him away.

He paints them both in the hospital, the night he kissed her forehead before leaving – painting Shi Hyun's bedside objects on a hospital side-desk, replacing the hospital bed light with their ceiling light.

Shi Hyun cocks her side ways to make sense of it and she laughs, "Oppa, what sort of slanted reality are you painting?"

Shi Joon, more traditionalist, feels the ridges to the oil paints after they dry on the canvas – smiling like he knows a secret his younger sister doesn't know.

She hugs him from behind as he does the dishes and washes their paint brushes all in the same sink, wheedling, "Oppa! Tell me…"

He tosses over his shoulder, "I forgot what the light by your bed looked like so I looked up and drew the ceiling light."

* * *

In the next moment he remembers, Shi Hyun draws him a quick sketch, detailed and full of little ideas – "Oppa, let's go on a holiday, far away from here. I'll take out all my off days and we can travel to clear your head."

Every detail is drawn by Shi Hyun consciously – Shi Joon's dreams do not help.

[ A hundred and one possibilities from an aeroplane that falls out of the sky to a ship that sinks to a robbery gone wrong.

Shi Joon is becoming paranoid and he's going nuts. ]

Then, Shi Hyun turns the page, eyes smiling, but a little tired.

"And we'll come home safely, back to jobs and everyone around us will be okay."

Each detail careful to show that all the different people in each screen are happy and safe and protected.

[ He dreams pleasant dreams. ]

 _What is going on?_

* * *

When he wakes up, he doesn't remember dreaming.

She leaves him a little cartoon drawing by his bedside – he wakes up at 8 like the prison bells, Shi Hyun probably left the house just a couple of minutes ago.

She drew a cartoon of them talking very earnestly.

She captions the drawing with, "Honesty, always. I promise."

His dream hits him.

[ Shi Hyun, speaking to a shopkeeper, the aged-up uncle who owned that knick-knack shop –

A van rounding the corner of the street and taking her off the street as she left. ]

Shi Joon is out the door and down the steps, barefoot and disorientated but he can't just do nothing.

Shi Hyun is his emergency contact and he _prays,_ the street comes into view.

Slowly cruising down that same road, the white van in his dream.

 _Pick up, please, Shi Hyun-ah._

Even as he runs to match pace with the van, he's mentally noted the number plate and model.

He can see her now, standing in the doorway of the shop and pulling out her phone from her back pocket.

"Oh, Oppa, what's up?"

"I just woke up," he says, trying to catch his breath.

She laughs into the receiver, a gentle, sweet sound.

"Mhm. Did you see my note as well?"

"Yeah I did, Shi Hyun-ah. Will you be free this afternoon? I think we should talk. I'm sorry, Shi Hyun-ah, I just didn't get to tell you but – "

He cuts himself off.

 _Why am I suddenly confessing?_

"Ah… Yeah I'll be back soon, stay at home and wait for me, okay, Oppa?"

The van has been forced to move on.

Shi Joon sags in relief.

He follows behind her at a careful distance, but as she turns to walk back to their home, Shi Joon is forced to move ahead.

He trusts that his dreams are accurate on threats and countering them will be enough.

* * *

In exchange, another lady was kidnapped, just a few doors down.

Shi Joon is okay with that.

* * *

Next chapter will be on the status of their abilities, hope people want to see a season 2 as well!


	3. Chapter 3

Shi Joon rushes back home and closes the door behind him, moving quickly to the kitchenette, rummaging about the cupboard for a cup or something to busy himself with.

When he's found one and managed to work the hot water boiler, he repeats the cupboard searching, trying to find a teabag, only for a sudden wave of nausea to rip over him. He leans against Shi Hyun's cupboard, his forehead on the base of her cup cupboard, steadying himself.

A premonition resounds in his ear, the ghost of Shi Hyun's voice, her lips moving and him reading her lips, _"What's wrong, oppa?"_

And he pushes himself away from his support, breathing hard and trying very difficult not to appear like something has indeed happened.

The door then opens, his sister's voice washing over him in the best way possible, "Oppa, I'm home!"

He sips his hot water, replying gently, "Oh Shi Hyun-ah, welcome back."

And she gives him a cheeky smile, walking over to bump into his side. "Welcome what welcome, you called me home."

Shi Joon smiles, abashed, setting his cup back down. "I couldn't find any teabags."

"Ah?! Oppa is that what you called me for?" her voice is full of her usual _(how long has it been?)_ joking tone, only for her to raise the tote bag in her hand.

"Here, I bought tea. Oppa, I don't drink tea, only coffee."

"Mhmm milk and one sugar, right?"

She reaches her arms around him, sing-songing in his ear that, "Oppa, you still remember?"

And he lets himself relax, satedness seeping into his voice, "Of course, Shi Hyun-ah."

"Alright, but that's enough contribution from you for the morning. Wait in the living area, I'll make our drinks and be right over."

He hums but whisks his cup out of her range just as she lets go of him.

Shi Hyun pouts but relents.

"Oppa, do you know where I put my coffee powder?"

He blinks and she laughs. "Joking, joking," reaching for the cup cupboard, and taking out her favourite _(she still has it?)_ flower mug.

She opens the cupboard to the left as well, revealing the bottles of instant coffee and cups of instant ramyeon.

"Instant things here, so we remember these are not good for us. Sugar, salt, pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce and rice, in the cupboard on the floor! And everything else is in the fridge."

Shi Joon helps himself, quietly murmuring the items to index them.

"Red pepper paste, soybean paste, sesame sauce, chilli paste, then the milk. Butter, eggs. Chocolate, bread, ham, soju, beer… Nothing else?"

Shi Hyun begins placing her groceries into the fridge. "Of course there's more, I just ran out. I suppose I should have bought more, since we're feeding two people. I usually can't buy much since I'm eating alone, oppa."

There's something wry in her voice, and there's a lump Shi Joon can't quite swallow. He freezes on the spot, unsure and the vision washes over him, the sight of her curled up on her bed, crying.

When she closes the fridge after putting in a pack of pork belly and pack of kimchi, he pulls her close, closing his eyes and telling her, "I won't leave you alone, ever again."

She hits him childishly, "Don't talk nonsense. Of course you have to. I can't keep you all the time."

But she's also beginning to tear. So he stays there quietly and lets her cry.

Shi Hyun tries to push him away, rubbing furiously at her eyes. "I'm not crying," she denies even though he says nothing.

He agrees, wiping away her tears. "You're not crying," the smile tugging at his lips, "Just that my shirt must have been dusty. Go wash up, don't rub the dust further in."

She agrees wholeheartedly, rushing into the bathroom.

 _So, still, not everything can change._

He can hear the sound of her sobbing.

* * *

Shi Joon busies himself with re-familiarising himself, the positions of the cups and plates, the cutlery drawer, the three different knives stuck magnetically by the sink, accompanied by the chopping board.

His fingers trail across the surfaces of the kitchenette, all spick and span, no traces of dust.

A spiderweb in the furthest corner of the wall, hooked half on the wooden cupboard. Shi Hyun's rainbow feather duster makes quick work of it, and the elder brother allows the thought to cross his mind. _Too short to reach it._

A smile rises to his lips, unbidden.

Casting his look around the kitchen, looking at the empty drying rack and clear sink, he decides to cook breakfast. Shi Hyun isn't out yet, but she probably went out shopping without breakfast – that's something simple he can help with.

First, he spots the toaster near the water boiler and begins by toasting bread, one slice for each other. Pressing the reboil button for the water, he turns his attention back to the fridge, taking out the ham as he puts the bread loaf back in.

He chops three slices of the newly bought ham, cutting the packet open when the knife, placing the remaining slices into the sole Tupperware on the drying rack.

After cracking two eggs and beating them in a bowl Shi Joon begins hunting for a pan and spatula. At this point, the water boiler beeps.

He adds a little more hot water to Shi Hyun's untouched coffee, and makes drops a tea bag into another cup of hot water for himself.

Pulling on the pull-out cupboards at the bottom, he finds the pans hung in a nifty little alcove, one of those DIY hanging set ups that maximise space usage.

Two pans and two pots, small and regular respectively. He kneels down to reach for the pan at the back, giving it a quick rinse just in case.

The washroom door clicks open and Shi Hyun reappears, gently patting her face. He over his shoulder at her, even as she pouts. "What are you doing?"

The older brother only laughs, "Looking at my little sister of course."

She rolls her eyes good-naturedly. "So you are. Oppa, I don't have a salary capable of hiring a private chef, you know."

Shi Joon only hums, "Yes, yes… but you don't have to pay this one. Ham omelette bread."

It's because she smiles that he lives.

"And coffee?"

"Of course. Next to the water boiler. Try and see if it needs more milk or sugar."

He places the pan over the induction cooker, turning on the hob, beginning with frying the ham, then pouring in the egg.

The edges bubble away, and he drifts slightly in the lull, aware that Shi Hyun is sipping her coffee while looking at him.

Then the ghost of future again, _Shi Hyun reclining against the counter, the toaster popping up and giving her a small scare, causing her hot coffee to spill._

"Mm, Shi Hyun-ah, can you get a plate for the bread?"

She makes a noise of agreement, setting the cup down just as the toaster button springs back. She can help the small sound of surprise, which is interrupted by Shi Joon's laughter.

Without the plates, she whirls around to stare down his back, "Oppa!" He doesn't have to turn to know her face is flushed with righteous indignation.

Not much has changed, his younger sister is still the same person, and that thought grounds him.

"Sorry, Shi Hyun. But you're too cute for your own good."

That appeases her immediately, and she comes up behind him, first squeezing his shoulders before tiptoeing to rest her chin on his shoulders, peering over them.

"As it always has been, my brother is the best!"

He hums again, before teasing, lightly. "Yes, he is. But he can't make plates levitate out of the cupboard."

* * *

"Is it good?"

His sister closes her eyes for a moment, and he waits. Her eyes sparkle with sweetness, "Delicious."

After the bread is finished, Shi Hyun cradles her flower mug, before looking at him seriously. "But oppa, really, what did you want to tell me?"

His fingers tense up, and he flexes them, taking a sip of tea to self-soothe.

"I…" She cuts him off before he can bluff his way out. "Don't lie."

He nods, "No lies. I still have some visions. But not as strong. And all changeable."

She exhales. "Alright. How often, oppa?" Shi Hyun chances a shaky smile, "Maybe we could hire you, after all."

Shi Joon only shakes his head.

"Very often, but they aren't much use. I only see minutes into the future, all of them surrounding you."

"That's good," she says and her brother only stares, uncomprehending.

"But it's not of any use to you," he starts softly, she cuts him off again.

"But that doesn't matter to me. Oppa I'm just glad you're back. Don't leave."

And this time, he stretches out his pinky first.

"I promise."

She hooks her pinky with his and tells him with a straight face, "I'll ask if we can hire you to man the emergency help line. The police office will always be the safest."

He laughs. "Then you will apply to go to the emergency dispatch team?"

She shakes their linked fingers.

"That's where those minutes will matter."

* * *

No news on a sequel, I think it's unlikely now :'( but there's not much to be done.

I've been spending much of my time watching new dramas, and been writing some. This is my relaxation piece, mostly because I love writing slice of life.

It's a bit of a pity that it's difficult to do that with Chains, where I have to keep thinking of the subplot and moving things forward.

Hehe, Drawing is a happy-writing fic. If you're here and you watched Joy of Life (Qing Yu Nian) the c-drama, I am also doing a self-challenge fic on Archive of Our Own. I would cross post here, but so far the new category hasn't been accepted.

Since you're here, I'd take the guess that you watch dramas too!

Anyway, thank you for reading. I'm not sure where to go next with this.


End file.
